Safety device for grade crossings



' June a, 1926. 1,588,291

A. AUSTIN El AL SAFETY DEVICE FOR GRADE CR$$INGS Filed Oct. 23,

3 Sheets-Sheet 1,.

June 8 1926. 1,588,291

A. AUSTIN Er AL I SAFETY DEVICE FOR GRADE CROSSINGS Filed Oct. 23, 19253 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR WINS:

June 8 1926.

A. AUSTIN El AL SAFETY DEVICE FOR GRADE CROSSINGS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FiledOct. 25, 1925 WITNES:

Patented June 8, 1926.

/ UNITED STATES PATENT orFIoE.

ATWELL AUSTIN AND HOWARD WILSON, OI. LANSING, KANSAS.

sunny DEVICE 'FOR onannonossmes.

Application filed October 23, i925. Serial No. 64,423.:-

g This invention relates to safety devices foruse in connection withgrade crossings and has for its object the provision of novel meansoperated automatically upon the ap- I! preach of a train and acting toprevent passage of a vehicle across the track, thereby greatly reducingdanger of accident.

An important and more specific" objectis the provision of a safetydevice for crossings embodying pits which a are normally covered butwhich are automatically opened upon the approach of a. train from eitherdirection so that any attempt to drive a,

vehicle onto the track will be frustrated 1 owing to the movement of thefront wheels into the pit. v 7

Still another object is to provide a device of this character havingzig-zag pathways or trench ways approaching the pit andne cessitatingslowing down of the speed of the vehicle prior to its reaching thesafety pit.

Still another object of the invention is :to

provide a device of this character in which the pit covers, when raisedto open and elevated position upon the approach of a train will act asbarriers and provide adequate I obstructions upon which the headlightsof the car will shine so that the operator or 0perators will be apprisedoithe approach of a a train. y I f Afurther :obj ec t of the inventionis to-provide a device ofthis "character having autob 46 generalimprovement inthe art.

With the. abovev and other objects and advantages in view, the inventionconsists in y the details of construction and the arrange,

ment and combination or parts to be "hereinafter more fully describedand claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which 7Figure 1 is a plan view of the complete device.

Figurefa is a vertical.se t

of the safetypitsshowin'g a vehicle engaged therein. I

Figure '3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but illustrating the pit coveras being in closed and locked position.

Figure '4: is a detail sectionfta'kenon the "linef l l of Figure 3, v

F gure 5' 1s a perspective view showing themounting of theoperatlngmechanism 'moved by the train approaching thegrade crossing".

Figure 6is a detail perspective view showing the other end of themovable train operatedbar. I

Figure 7 is'a detail perspective view.

Figure 8 is a section taken on the line '88 of Figureo, and

Figure 9 is a detail elevation. I Referring more particularlytothedrawing, the letter A designates a railroad track crossing a highwayB. In protecting the highway, we make use of an apparatuswhich includes(pits 1 built into the road or highway at opposite sides of thecrossing, these pits beingconstructed-of concrete or the like which mayform part of the highway or road itself. In JFigures Q and 3, we haveillustrated one of these pits in section and referring to these figuresit will be observed that the bottom 2' of the 'pit slopes downwardlytoward the track, a vertical wall 3 eing provided at the end or side ofthe pit nearest the track. Owing to the inclination of the bottom ofeach pit i't'is quite "evident that the front wheels offa car may easilyroll down the inclined bottom, as shown in igure .2 and come "to restagainst {the vertical wall 3 so that the vehicle could not "be drivenonto the 'tra'cln suitablymounted longitudinally of each pit or atrightangles to the track is a'beam or bar 4 which serves gas a support formeans to be described, this "beam orbarbeing anchoredto thezpit any.

desired means whatsoever.

"Each ,pitjis normally closed by a cover 5 hingedyas shown at Gfbymeansof a spring hinge which acts normally to swing the cover upwardly intoopen position so that the pit willbee'xposed andreadylfor actime. At theundersidelo'f the free edge portion of each cover is an 'angula-r-keeper 7 being slida'ble through "suita'lile bearing "de-'apertured'ior engagement therein of a latch member' 8 'formed as a;plunger or rod urged 'in'to locking pos tion "bya" spring 9,.the rodvices 10 anchored upon the beam or bar 4. Normally, this latch deviceoperates to hold the covers or doors closed against the action of thesprings 6.

The control or operating means for eflecting release of the covermembers upon approach of the train and for reclosing them after a trainhas gone by, comprises long1- tudinally movable bars 11 and 12 locatedat opposite sides of the crossing and pivotally carried by crank arms 13and-1 1 on shafts 15 and 16, the former of which are mounted in suitablebearings .17 and the latter of which are mounted in bearings 18 securedupon the ties. Springs 19 engage the arms 18 and 14: for normallyholding the bars 11 not only against the outer edges of the rails butalso in elevated position with respect thereto so that these rails 11and 12 will be disposed in the path of travel of the wheels of the trainapproaching or passing by the crossings.

The shafts 15 carry crank arms or levers 19' with which are connectedflexible members, such as cables or the like 20, trained about guidepulleys 21 mounted on the ties and connected with bridle cables 22trained about suitable guide pulleys 23 and24 and connected with thedoors or covers 5. Each bridle cable 22 of course includes two parts,one leading to the door at one side of the track and the other leadingto the door or cover at the opposite side thereof, the constructionbeing identical at both sides. The other ends of the cables or flexiblemembers 20 are connected with bridle members 25 which are trained aboutsuitable guide pulleys 26 and 27, also 28, and connected with theslidable latch rods 8. Each bridle mem ber 25 of course includes twoparts or sections, one of which being connected with the latch device ofthe door at one side of the track while the other is similarly connectedwith the latch device of the door at the opposite side of the'track. Thecables at opposite sides of the roadway are connectedas shown so that itwill make no difference which way or from which direction a trainapproaches a crossing, the action being identically the same in eithercase.

In the operation of the device it will be seen that under normalcircumstances the rails or bars 11 and 12 are in elevated position whilethe doors 01' covers 5 for the pit are in closed position, the springsin the hinge members 6 being held under tension and the doors being heldshut by means of the spring pressed latch devices 8. There is nothingthen whatsoever to interfere with the free passage of vehicles of allkinds over the crossing. However, whenever a train approaches the roadfrom either side thereof it is obvious that the engagement of the wheelsof the train with either the bar 11 or the bar 12, as the case may bedepending upon direction, the bar will be depressed and movedlengthwise, resulting in rocking of the shaft 15 connected therewith.When the shaft is thus moved, the lever 19 is correspondingly moved andthe flexible member 20 connected therewith will be pulled resulting inpulling the bridle member 25 which is connected with the latch devices 8of both pit covers. This will result in withdrawing the latch devices 8from the keepers 7 so that the springs 6 will act to swing the pitcovers upwardly as shown in Figure 2. These p t covers may bear warningsigns on their undersurfaces and even in the absence of such signs it isapparent that they will extend'upwardly to asutficient extent to attractattention either by day or by night, in the latter instance theheadlights of the ve-. hicle shining upon them. Obviously, when tl ecovers are thus swung upwardly the pits are exposed. and the frontwheels of the vehicle endeavoring to cross the track will drop into thepit, gently on account of the inclined bottoms, and will come intoengagement with the upright walls 3. Obviously, it will be impossible todrive the vehicle out of the pit in a forward direction and in this waydanger of accident at the crossing will be prevented. It is intendedthat zig-zag or serpentine guide paths, grooves, channels or the likeindicated at 30 be provided at opposite sides of the crossing and inadvance of the pit so as to necessitate slowing down of the vehiclesbefore they approach the pit. After the train has passed by thecrossing, it will be observed that the other bar member 11 or 12, as thecase may be, will be moved longi tudinally and depressed so that theflexible member connected with the other lever arm 19 will bepulled,tension being applied to the bridle member 23 which will resultin swinging the doors or covers downwardly into their normal or closedposition, the

catch members 7 then cooperating with the latch members 8 formaintaining the closed position. Of course, if a vehicle has been sodriven that its front wheels are engaged within a pit it is necessarythat the vehicle be backed out before the. coversfor the pit can beclosed, but this is something which is very readily done by the driverof'the ve hicle when occasion demands.

From the foregoing description and a study of the drawings it will beapparent that we have thus provided a very simply constructed and easilyinstalled safety device which will greatly lessen likelihood of accidentat crossings, inasmuch as it will be a physical impossibility to drive acar or other vehicle up onto the track while a train is approaching. Itis really believed that the construction, operation and advantages willbe readily apparent to one skilled in the art without furtherexplanation.

While We have shown and described the preferred embodiment of theinvention, it should be understood that We reserve the right to makesuch changes in the form, construction and arrangement of parts as willnot depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of thesubjoined claims.

Having'thus described the invention, we claim 1. In a protective deviceof the character described, pits located in aroadway at 01pposite sidesof a track, covers normal y covering said pits, spring means tending toswing said covers to open position exposing the pits,rspring pressedlatch means normally holding said covers in closed position, railmembers located alongside the track and engageable by the wheels or" apassing train, lever devices connected with and operated by movement ofthe rail members, and flexible members connected with said levers andwith the latch devices and covers, movement of a rail member in onedirection applying tension to the flexible members for releasing saidcatch means, and movement of the flexible members in the oppositedirection acting to reclose the cover members.

2. In a protective device of the character described, pits located in aroadway at opposite sides of a track, covers normally covering saidpits, spring means tending to swing said covers to open positionexposing the pits, spring pressed latch means normally holding saidcovers in closed position, rail members located alongside the track andengageable by the wheels of a passing train, lever devices connectedwith and operated by movement of the rail members,

covering said pits, spring means tending to swing said covers to openposition exposing the pits, spring pressed latch means normally holdingsaid covers in closed position, rail members located alongside the trackand engageable by the wheels of a passing 7 train, lever devicesconnected with and operated by movement of the-rail members, and

flexible members connected with said levers and with the latch deviceand covers, movement of a rail member in one direction applying tensionto the flexiblemembers for releasing said catch means, and movement ofthe flexible members in the opposite direction acting to reclose thecover members,

said pits having their bottoms inclining downwardly toward the track andhaving upright abutment walls at the side nearest the track constitutingpositive stop means.

In testimony whereof we atflx our signatures.

-ATWELL AUSTIN. HOWARD WILSON.

